I quit drinking in July 2009. My first son was born in January and I wanted him to have better role models than I did. I quit smoking cigarettes a year later. Good thing because I wouldn't have time for either of them now if I wanted to.
I'm happy to see that there are a few others out there!! Nice thread, I've also wondered on occasion if I was the only one
I took a 30 year interregnum during the busy years of my career. Now I limit myself to beer, but sure enjoy it more than I once did.
In some cases; it's called natural selection:
Well, I guess I partake of some of ya'lls share then. A cold beer on a hot day is refreshing, and I do like a good bourbon. I can get carried away and pour a bit more than I should, and I have noticed as I age it might take me longer to get back to speed the next morning, but since I try to not be normal, I am looking for an abnormal solution to that problem on the occasions it does happen. I also enjoy a really good tequila, but those are not easy to find in my hometown, so I do not enjoy them very often.
Monte, post: 434147, member: 11913 wrote: I also enjoy a really good tequila, but those are not easy to find in my hometown, so I do not enjoy them very often.
If you haven't discovered it, El Jimador is a pretty good one for a reasonable price. Naturally, since you were recently in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, you will have had access to a variety of others.
One of the early descriptions of surveying in Far West Texas, that of O.W. Williams who accompanied an expedition of geologists to explore the public lands West of the Pecos a few years after 1900, mentioned the merits of "sotol". I do not recommend sotol if you have access to a Tequila made from blue agave. The sotols I have tasted were vile and dangerous liquors compared to Tequila.
Kent McMillan, post: 434206, member: 3 wrote: ..The sotols I have tasted were vile and dangerous liquors...
"Vile and dangerous" are good adjectives for some of the homemade hooch from the hills of Durango. I've only sampled sotol a few times from well-meaning ESL co-workers that brought some back returning from their vacaciones de Navidad. The first was almost indistinguishable from ten year old gasoline from a rusty can with the heady aroma of locker room socks. Another sampling of some "better stuff" at a later date was an improvement, but only because it didn't immediately cause an involuntary gag reflex like the first.
When I asked Hector, my rodman (who had brought the drink back to Oklahoma as a gift for me), "How the hell do you drink that stuff?" he replied, "Primero debes estar borracho". A loose translation: "You have to be drunk first".
That would probably help...along with someone holding a pistola to your head. 😉
El Jimador is one I like. And that I can find in most places. A new one the taxi driver turned me to in OJ was Don Ramone. It was really good, but it is difficult to find in Texas.
I'm pleased that we can have a discussion about this. I have known and do know some surveyors who seem to be dependent on the bottle and are working for title mills because they seem to be otherwise unemployable. The second half of my post that I am just now adding is that Sunday was my 45th orbit around the sun and I have decided that I no longer find any benefit from drinking. I gave up smoking 7/11/15 And I'm pretty sure that as of 6/25/2017 I might be a teetotaler in the footsteps of Twichell. Not judging anyone else here. I just know that I can't do anything halfway.
I'm with you there, Andy. There was a period of many years where I drank at least a gallon of milk every day. A little of something is good, but too much, is too much for a variety of reasons. I stopped "cold turkey". Wouldn't even put any on cereal. After about 15 years of consuming no milk I decided to have a little from time to time, but no more than two glasses per day. That has worked ever since. But, I know that without the complete stoppage for so long I would not have limited myself as I currently do.
I grew up in a culture of heavy drinking and everyone smoked to boot. I finally swore off tobacco once and for all in 1994 after 16 years of on & off of it.
I still like my beer, but you reach a point in life where you have to slow down... if you want to live, anyhow. I also very much enjoy a good bourbon on occasion, but a bottle lasts for months these days. It's a little easier to plop down $55 or so on a bottle of Blanton's when you know you're not going to swill the entire thing over the course of a weekend.
I like to drink beer because I truly enjoy it, but I don't like getting drunk and I truly despise drunks... playing in bar bands for 30+ years, I've seen more than my share of them.
I will say this - when I'm in a lot of pain, it's amazing what a couple fingers of bourbon and a few Advil can do.
Andy Nold, post: 433919, member: 7 wrote: When I was an SIT, I was told that you needed to register your signature, seal imprint and your hard liquor of choice. Today, at this point, I only know one surveyor who posts on rplstoday who i know for sure doesn't drink. Not trying to disparage anyone. I'm just more passionate about surveying than anything else.
I didn't drink in high school. Too scared of the old man I guess. He wasn't there in college (first year) and I made up for lost time and lost a lot of time trying to remember what the hell I'd done. I drank regularly (and sometimes heavily) in my 20's. Beer mainly because me and hard liquor didn't get along. By about 33, I'd developed what I call an "allergy" to beer. Half of a beer triggers a raging migrane. Same thing happened to my dad although he can drink beer regularly now at nearly 70 where I still can't (dammit!). If I don't drink beer for a prolonged period of time, my body will "allow" me to have up to three without negative consequences. So I switched to liquor, but being older meant I had more moderation and I didn't get out of hand too often. 🙂 For the last year and a half we've been hard at CrossFit and my drinking has slowly crept back to nearly zero. The total lifestyle change is what did it and not a conscious effort to avoid alcohol (actually avoidance of the mixers like Coke and Sprite).
That's not to say that around holidays or special occasions I don't drink, but it's rarely to excess. Living near the dehydration line with CrossFit makes hangovers double or triple what they used to be. That being said, after 6 days with my in-laws at my house at Christmas, I'd put a healthy dent in my Morgan stash, New Years Eve finished it off. Me and a buddy had a six pack after we finished the CrossFit open, I had a mixed drink on my anniversary in March, one after Murph in May, and I drank like an absolute fish after the Spartan race three weeks ago. I was so hungover it took me till 7 pm the next night to realize I was running fever and ultimately had the flu. LOL!
In a normal week, I probably have three glasses of wine, typically one while cooking supper with my wife after working out. If I ever quit CrossFit, I'll probably take drinking back up. I'd probably drink more if beer didn't give me the blues.
Favorite Drinks are any rum (save Sailor Jerrys, that stuff is crap), any "anjeo" tequila for sipping or silver 100% agave tequila for mixing, Gin (it has to be a London Dry, the other stuff has too much of a "wang" to it), Vodka (I don't normally reach for it but because I'm cheap, I buy VERY cheap Vodka and filter it like 5 times and it takes the "wang" out of it {my wife loves it with cranberry juice}). After twenty years of trying, I finally realized that I abhor whiskey or scotch in any form. I think it has to do with the aging and before anyone says "Well you've never had XXX or good stuff", allow me to say I've tried hundreds of different kinds with people who made livings out of either drinking or selling it and knew the ins and outs of it. Scotch has a wider flavor gambit than any other liquor from single malts and their regions to blended scotches, and they all suck to me. I don't like much wine, but I'm getting there. I've graduated past Boones Farm to some Merlots, Pinot Grigios and Cabernet's, and Sauvingon Blanc (my wife thinks shes a wine aficionado so I end up trying lots of stuff).
My boy likes Shiner Bock and Captain Morgan (go figure), and my daughter likes Wine Coolers. I've worked on them since they were 14 letting them try and get used to drinking in a controlled environment so they didn't act like their daddy when he went to college and for who he had ZERO reference to how or what to drink and what pace and moderation to drink at. We all want better for our kids. LOL!
Lee D, post: 434516, member: 7971 wrote: I will say this - when I'm in a lot of pain, it's amazing what a couple fingers of bourbon and a few Advil can do.
That's an excellent way to fry your liver. Tylenol is even worse when mixed with alcohol and can literally do irreparable harm in one shot. I'd pick one or the other.
Seriously, look up NSAID or Analgesics with alcohol. It ain't no joke amigo.
Lee D, post: 434515, member: 7971 wrote: I grew up in a culture of heavy drinking and everyone smoked to boot. I finally swore off tobacco once and for all in 1994 after 16 years of on & off of it.
I still like my beer, but you reach a point in life where you have to slow down... if you want to live, anyhow. I also very much enjoy a good bourbon on occasion, but a bottle lasts for months these days. It's a little easier to plop down $55 or so on a bottle of Blanton's when you know you're not going to swill the entire thing over the course of a weekend.
I like to drink beer because I truly enjoy it, but I don't like getting drunk and I truly despise drunks... playing in bar bands for 30+ years, I've seen more than my share of them.
We're on the same page with all the above. Even quit smoking the same year, 1994. I like good beer but despise crappy Light Beers. Like a good bourbon, but a bottle last me forever. And if I run out, it takes a another month or so before I'll take the time to stop by the liquor store. And thats usually because it is a special occasion. The remnants are usually what I wind up with for the next month or so.
I also grew up in a culture of heavy drinking and smoking. Played in a number of bands as well. I consider myself lucky that I was able to escape that heavy party culture. Some were not as lucky. There are a few that wound up dead and a few that wish they were.
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